Ottawa: the rest of our shenanigans!

I referred earlier to our rippin good times in Ottawa... well, this here post is the proof.

 

Fraser. was. a. DOLL! The perfect little traveller. He slept ALMOST through the night, was flexible with his naps so we could still do our gallivanting, and was a smiley delight during his wakeful hours. Perhaps he was just THAT excited to meet Uncle Daniel for the FIRST TIME!!!

 

Fraser LOOOOVED his Uncle Daniel!!

As for Watson and Rupert... they were as smitten with Fraser as Daniel was (and I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual). The doggies were never far from the Fraselton and were especially keen to lather him in kisses...

  
 Oh goodness, where to even begin with the fun times. How about with day one? Dan was working, but Carlynne had the day off to frolic with us...

  
Throughout the week, we had dining dates with several of Carlynne & Dan's friends, and even Breanne & Allistar (friends/former roomie from Edmonton) stopped by for brunch on their way through Ottawa!

(Yes, Carlynne drew that tree in the background. She's responsible for 99% of the artwork in her home as well as ours!)




After that brunchy brunch, we zipped over to Quebec for a hike/swim at Meech Lake. Those two things had to go hand-in-hand as it. was. HOT! It was a LEETLE crowded in the car on the way there what with the stroller taking up residence in the back where the poochies normally go...

The cool water was a very welcome reprieve after hiking in the heat. When Dan jumped into the water, Watson immediately followed and landed directly on  him. Here's the impressive sequence...

 

 Then Rupert joined the fun, and they both attempted to climb(/drown) Daniel...

 No worries- he lived to tell about it.

 

 

   
Before leaving Quebec, we had some nice giant bowls of calories... I mean, poutine. Lowell has always wanted authentic Quebec poutine, and his dream was realized!

Nap time after an exhausting day in the sun...

Next up was motorboatin down the Rideau Canal. Fraser's first time on a boat, and it just happened to be Uncle Daniel's very own boat... fun! Thanks to Chris & Katherine for lending the wee life jacket (and also the playpen and booster seat!!)...

 

  
 Fraser had his afternoon nap on the boat. Looked comfortable (not)...

 

Rupert was a little scared, so Lowell snuggled with him during the boat ride...

 
Fraser's first time in a sand box (and incidentally also his first time eating sand) with his new friend Ollie...

And let's not forget our amazing Canada Day in the capital!

On our last morning, we had a final walk, some breakfast out,  and a few more Auntie Carlynne snuggles before we flew home (Daniel was back at work so couldn't join us boohoo)...

Goodbye kisses from Auntie Carlynne!

WHAT A BLAST! We've told Dan & Carlynne that they're allowed to live in Ottawa for three more years before we'll force them to move back to Alberta. Assuming that we'll keep up our annual visits, three years will give us the time to visit in fall, spring, and then summer again (because summer is super awesome). Next time we hope to hit up Ottawa in the fall and cash in on the beautiful colours. Thanks for the roarin good times, D&C!

Canada Day in our nation's capital!

Yes. Canada Day with Dan & Carlynne on Parliament Hill = a.maze.ing.

Before heading out for the day of festivities, we took advantage of Carlynne's artistic ability, and got our faces painted... some of us more than others (ahem, Lowell)!

Of course Fraser was also decked out- much to the enjoyment of several tourists. People were NOT shy about approaching us and asking for pictures with our wee Canadian boy. In hindsight, it was quite brave (or perhaps foolish?) of me to willy nilly hand my child over to complete strangers. Ah well... they got some cutie McCute shots out of the deal...

Not to worry, we also got several classic shots sans random tourists...

If you think I was going to let a potential meeting with our Prime Minister Stephen Harper pass me by, then you obviously don't know me very well. My plan was slightly altered as Dan & Carlynne went out walking and returned like five seconds too late, and got temporarily locked outside the gates. That meant Lowell had to stay back and guard our stuff while Fraser, the iPhone and I went on our meet-the-Prime-Minister mission!

I thought our best shot at the big time was hoisting the patriotic babe on my shoulders. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't secretly hope that one of Steve's men would notice the very Canadian Fraser and think he'd look good in Steve's next ad campaign. Well, that didn't happen (surprise surprise), but we DID get within 10 feet of the Prime Minister (y'all don't mind if I just call him Steve, do you?), and we got some pictures with the trusty iPhone.

As I was struggling to get a shot of Fraser in the foreground and Steve in the background (an absolute must, of course), a nice young gal offered to help me (before she took her own picture, might I add... what a saint!) SUCCESS!

There were cameras EVERYWHERE.  It got me to thinking how inconvenient it must be to be constantly faced with cameras. Wouldn't want to scratch your nose lest someone snag a photo and accuse you of being a nose picker. Or heaven forbid you have a BUM itch. That would be the end of your career! Yes, I'm grateful for my anonymity. I can do all the public nose-picking and bum-scratching that I want.

But I digress. While Steve and his men didn't notice us, the giant cameras apparently did. As we were making our way back to Lowell, people stopped us and said, "Your son was on the jumbotron!" Oh I was so proud of my baby! The people around Lowell saw Fraser on the big screen before Lowell did, and they got his attention and asked, "Hey, isn't that your baby on the screen?" at which point Lowell did a small leap of joy and managed to snap a quick photo JUST before Fraser's moment of fame was over.

Carlynne and Dan even saw him on the jumbotron as they were waiting to be let back in the gates!

We hung out on the hill for a few hours taking in the festive crowd and the show. Who was there, you ask? Hmmm.... Jully Black, Feist, Roch Voisine, and Simple Plan (to name a few). There was also a slightly painful war of 1812 reenactment, but on the whole it was a very positive experience.

Jully Black...

 

Feist...

Stephen Harper...

Roch Voisine. Carlynne remembered that our high school French teacher was quite a fan of this man('s looks), so Madame Nouvelle Maison... this picture is for YOU! :)

 It was a HOT hot day, and we were very grateful for the periodic cloud cover and breeze. When the sun was blazing down (which was most of the time), we created some patriotic shade for Fraselton. Don't you worry- he was also good and sunscreened up!

Fraser, by the way, did AMAZING. We accidentally forgot his lunch (FAIL), so between 9am and 3pm, all he had was like 15 cheerios and he was still happy as a clam. I probably should have nursed him, but with several thousand people around and nearly as many cameras, I wasn't too keen on whipping my boob out. See? Look at the fun crowd!

Fraser enjoyed rocking out to the music with Uncle Dan & Auntie Carlynne...

Canada Day in our nation's capital is something I've been wanting to do for a looooong time. SO FESTIVE! We can check THAT off the ol bucket list (although we DO hope for a repeat)!

After the show on the hill, we cruised downtown a bit. This giant spider is in downtown Ottawa. I don't know the significance of it (if any), but it made for a fun picture!

 Fraser. Was. Tuckered.

 We stopped at Steve's house (but sadly we weren't invited in)...

(Like the glasses? Lowell and I left ours in the car IN CALGARY, so we're both donning Dan's UV protected safety glasses. New fad? Me thinks yes)

... and then we got some obligatory shots with the guards...

 

I really thought I was closer to the guard than that. Jeez... usually I'm not very shy about that kind of thing.

 

I don't think this man was grasping the gravity of the cuteness beside him. Otherwise surely that scowl would be wiped off his face. I guess he IS a professional, though! The only time I've ever even heard of a guard losing his composure was when my Dad announced, "un, deux, trois ATTENTION!" in his butchered French before snapping a shot of us with a guard many moons ago. STILL makes us sibs laugh!

After that much time in the sun, we were HOT and THIRSTY! We felt like jumping in a lake and then drinking it. So we did... the jumping part, anyway. Dan & Lowell stripped down to their skivvies, but Carlynne, Fraser and I went in with all of our clothes on...

REFRESHING (and Fraser's diaper ended up weighing about 400 lbs)!!!

We received an exuberant welcome home from the doggies (Dan & Carlynne's dog Watson, and his visiting brother, Rupert) before having glorious naps and having a nice evening with Greg & Anita (Rupert's parents)!

SO FUN! And Canada Day was only a FRACTION of the roaring good times we had with Dan & Carlynne in Ottawa. More to come...